Homesickness

I survived my conference in New Orleans. Barely. Whiny post: Ahead!

The Hotel

The View from the Hotel

The Only Good Meal I Had in New Orleans

Most of My Meals in New Orleans

The conference itself was wildly irrelevant to what I do–most of the sessions focused on the importance of shifting your work over to the Internet–one session involved the lecturer showing the basics of Facebook–and was geared mostly towards newspaper/print people. My office doesn’t do anything in print, has an extensive department dedicatedjust to Facebook, Twitter and other social media marketing, and we aren’t run at all like a newspaper.

My coworker/boss is a sweet gal, but, well…I snuck out of the hotel at 8pm out of sheer desperation on Thursday night just to wander around and see the city.

I was sick in a horribly uncomfortable way on Friday.

I have never been to a less veggie-friendly city in my life–much less vegan-friendly. And even the meat-eater stuff was just piles of greasy mediocre seafood–at best.

As to New Orleans itself–the next time I want to recreate the experience, I’ll save myself airfare and hotel, go downtown to the trashy/tacky bars in my own city and buy crappy bar food for every meal while I’m there. I know some people love New Orleans, but…I guess I just missed the appeal?

Have you been to New Orleans? What did I miss?

Okay, I hate complaining (although I sure did it anyway), so I will say–I’m glad my job gave me the opportunity to go, and it’s only made me even more eager for my trip to New York City–a place I know I love!–at the end of next month.

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42 comments

I’m so sorry it was a rotten trip! I know Gena at Choosing Raw did a graet post of the vegan options in NO and she said it was a great selection. It’s a shame you had a bad experience! I haven’t been there since I was 7, and all I remember were the beneigts and chicory coffee at Cafe Dumonde. It was legendary…but I can imagine where all the gumbo and jambalaya would make it really difficult for a vegan/vegetarian!

I had to go check out her posts and see what she managed to find! And haha, the one good meal I had was at a restaurant she had visited as well–Carmo. Wish I could have gone there for every meal! I did go to cafe Dumonde…and wasn’t blown away by the coffee (it tasted a little diner-ish), but my coworker said the beignets were amazing. They certainly looked it!

Bummer about the food, if the food isn’t good your whole experiece is tarnished. I don’t eat meat a lot and am pretty picky about food and it seems no matter where I go there are always tons of options, but I am mainly talking about places in California so I guess that really doesn’t count huh?

Honestly, I have never had such trouble finding decent food–and I’ve traveled to quite a few places (and lots of small ones at that) across the country. I mean, I can usually alter a salad but still be eating more than a plate of lettuce, or find some roasted veggies or SOMETHING–NOLA? Nothing. Huh. I WOULD love to visit Cali and check out all the food (okay okay, and sights 😀 ), I have a feeling I’d be a very happy vegan in your state 🙂

Aw that’s such a bummer 😦 I’m leaving today for a conference in New York, and I’m hoping the content is really relevant to my job. You just never know! I’m also battling a cold/allergies, so I’m crossing my fingers it doesn’t zap all my energy!

Love the pics but bummer about the lame trip! My mom is from the new orleans area, but I was never really a huge fan of it when we would visit. What can I say, I’m the complete opposite of a party animal heehee 😉

Coming home is always the best. So sad to hear you didn’t have a good time in New Orleans. My folks were there a few years ago and loved it. I’ve not been since the 80’s so my comment on loving it is very out dated. I love New York!

Aw! I’m sorry love. I’ve heard good things about New Orleans, probably partly because my husband and his family is Cajun and from Texas/Lousiana border. I haven’t been though I have been to Lake Charles and loved it there.But I could definitely see how that wouldn’t be much fun for a vegan! AH! Hugs.

SO glad it’s not just me! It’s been frustrating trying to explain that it just wasn’t that great. Or even halfway decent. I’m not sure what people imagine NO to be–maybe partiers would have a better time. But again, I feel like you could just hit local bars for the same feeling. Ah, well. My next journey after NYC? Definitely want it to be west coast.

I think the key is to go party in NO so you can do dumb things you wouldn’t want to be caught dead doing in said local bar? Either way, I’m not impressed. I’ve kind of past that point in my life. I’m headed to Vegas for the first time in July and not nearly as excited about it as I probably would have been 5 years ago.

I’ve done some pretty dumb things in local bars ;D My shame needs no distance, haha. My friend was trying to talk me into Vegas, and yeah, after NO, I’d rather try other places. It’d still be an interesting place to see, but “party city” vacations just aren’t my style these days.

Booo I am sorry it was such a poop trip! It really does sound like it sucked, ugh! Especially the food issue, that would of course bother me a whole lot…
And yep, there really is nothing better than coming home to your own place, stuff, food, and familiarity 🙂

Yeah, but at least now I know. I’d wanted to plan my own (personally paid for) trip to NO for ages–thank goodness I learned it would have been a waste of money! Next conference trip I’ll remember to pack more snacks. And maybe a book or a crossword puzzle to do during the sessions…

Sorry you didn’t have a great time- was it your first time visiting New Orleans? I’m surprised that it was hard to find good, vegan fare…it should be almost mandatory for restaurants to offer at least one vegan dish on the menu…or at least be open to customization! At least you know you’re in for a treat when you head to New York…having a bad time there is next to impossible :)!

Yep, it was my first trip. And I have NEVER had trouble like this with finding vegan food! I can almost always customize, if there isn’t already an option. But New Orleans? Pfft, nothing. Seafood on top of steak on top of fry-anything-that-can-be-fried. I maybe could have customized some fried chicken salads down to a plate of iceberg lettuce, but that’s hardly satisfying. Ah, well. NYC is next, and YES, there’s no way not to enjoy that trip!

Wow, that view looks gorgeous, shame the rest of the visit didn’t measure up! I saw some New Orleans food on Man Versus Food the other day and if it was like that, I’m not surprised you weren’t impressed!
There’s nothing likecoming home too, especially after a less than great trip 🙂

It’s actually good to read a bad review of a city! Because normally they are like, “omg it was so amazing,” so this seemed more realistic, and more importantly, funny! That’s the good thing about bad experiences, they make for great stories!

Noooo I do not like to hear that you had trouble finding food. While I am not a vegetarian I am always on the lookout for “better for you choices” when I am visiting a new city. I will be there in July – bleh.

I was right downtown–so I think if I’d been a little outside of the immediate french quarter/garden district area there may have been some fresher/healthier choices. That said, if you ARE right in the middle of things–track down Carmo! That was where I had my one (really good) meal, and I would have eaten there for every lunch and dinner if I’d had a say.